


Mathematics

by Cameron_McKell



Series: Adrift and Related Works [9]
Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Endgame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-11
Updated: 2014-11-11
Packaged: 2018-02-25 00:29:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2601947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cameron_McKell/pseuds/Cameron_McKell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wally has a problem; Dick is a problem solver.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mathematics

 Dick froze with one leg still suspended in their living room window, halfway through pulling off his mask.

 

Wally's head was _just_ visible over the top of the couch.

 

Frowning to himself, Dick finished pulling his leg through and carefully pulled the window closed, throwing that tuft of red hair worried looks.

 

Wally had to get up earlier than he did for his internship several states over, so Dick had always insisted that he went home early to catch some sleep; it was a fair trade off, especially considering Wally always made an extra trip back and forth every day so they could have lunch together.

 

Dick almost smiled to himself at the thought, before remembering that the whole point was that Wally never waited up for him.

 

Not since those first months after he... came back.

 

Schooling his face into something resembling calm, Dick walked across the room while stripping off his gloves, then turned the corner of the couch to try and get a better look at his speedster.

 

Wally didn't seem to have noticed his arrival yet, in favor of the calender – and calculator? – in his lap.

 

The only important date that Dick could remember coming up soon was Wally's birthday, but that wasn't for another two –

 

It was tomorrow, he mentally amended, after catching sight of the clock strategically placed to be within sight of their refrigerator for when Wally was running late – which was usually Dick's fault.

 

They hadn't missed his birthday, so what could be bothering Wally?

 

There was only one way to find out, really.

 

Dick sat down on the couch next to Wally, tucking one leg underneath himself to he could better turn and face him. “Wally?”

 

Distressed green eyes flashed up at him for a moment, before turning back to the tapping on the calculator. “Hm?”

 

“What's wrong?”

 

“I don't know how old I am,” he replied, then jabbed at the calculator one more time before throwing it and the calender on the coffee table in frustration. “And I keep screwing up my math.”

 

Dick snagged the physically-younger man around the shoulders and pulled Wally into his chest, then started carding his free hand through his red hair. He'd missed this, while Wally had been gone, never to return as far as either of them had known. Gratitude had kept him from looking too hard at the 'why' of it, but it made sense for something like this to bother the former subject of it. He pressed a kiss into the crown of Wally's head. “Is this about tomorrow?”

 

Wally silently soaked in the comfort for several moments, then Dick felt him nod against his chest. “I don't want to upset anyone, but I don't _feel_ twenty-five. But I also don't really feel twenty-two, either, you know?”

 

Dick didn't, really; he couldn't imagine what it would be like to be trapped in a dimension outside the regular flow of time, with a speedster's perception. It was a miracle Wally hadn't gone insane, regardless of how 'beautiful' it had been. He did his best to keep from giving any indication of those thoughts, though, and absently twirled a lock of Wally's hair to try and get it to stick out from the side of his head like a spike. “Is there an age you feel you are?”

 

Wally shrugged helplessly, then tipped his head up to kiss the underside of Dick's chin in apology. “I don't know.”

 

They stayed like that for maybe half an hour – they both were going to be zombies at work in a few hours – until Dick had an idea. He gently pushed Wally upright, and began herding him toward the bedroom. “How about if we celebrate having you around for another year, and keep numbers out of it?”

 

Wally flopped into bed when Dick nudged him toward it, then just lay there thinking while Dick finished changing out of his suit, finally. He attached himself to Dick like a barnacle as soon as his back hit the sheets, and Dick pulled a blanket over them. “You have the best plans.”

 

“I know,” he replied with exaggerated conceit, and made a mental note to call everyone about the new numberless party scheme while Wally lightly smacked him in the face with a spare pillow.


End file.
